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Kirsten Dunst Claims Johnny Depp Wears Earbuds While Acting

(Earbuds not shown.)Photos: FilmMagic, WireImage

At Wednesday night’s opening party for 303 Gallery on 21st Street, Kirsten Dunst was uncharacteristically open — perhaps because she wanted to plug her documentary, but also because we asked her about music, a topic she clearly loves to discuss. She’s into My Morning Jacket and Fleet Foxes and told us she uses music to get into character a lot. In her recently wrapped movie All Good Things, for example, she had a scene where she had to go a little bit crazy, so she listened to music to help her out: Arcade Fire. “And Daniel Johnston can make you feel crazy,” she added, referring to the actually crazy cult singer. “He’s great.” We must have seemed dubious, because Dunst dropped a Hollywood bombshell: “But Johnny Depp has music playing in his ear when he acts,” she said. “He has an earbud. That’s why he’s so great.”

Wait, so Captain Jack Sparrow was listening to the Rolling Stones the whole time? “I don’t know if he does it on every project, but I know he does,” Dunst said. What kind of music does Depp listen to? “I have no idea,” Dunst replied, her story kind of losing steam. We asked her how Depp conceals this supposed earbud from the camera: “Maybe his hair’s covering it? I don’t know, but I know he does it,” Dunst persisted. Finally, we asked Dunst to reveal her source. “I’m in the biz,” she said. “Word gets around.” We checked in with Depp’s representatives on this somewhat sketchy-sounding (but almost plausible!) hearsay — earsay? — but she didn’t respond to our e-mails. —Darrell Hartman

Kirsten Dunst Claims Johnny Depp Wears Earbuds While Acting